Electronic device and method for determining touch coordinate thereof

ABSTRACT

An electronic device includes a cover glass, a touch sensor disposed under the cover glass and sensing proximity of or contact by an external object, a touch integrated circuit (IC) electrically connected to the touch sensor, a fingerprint sensor disposed under the cover glass adjacent to the touch sensor, including an active area for sensing a biometric pattern of the external object and an inactive area surrounding a periphery of the active area, a fingerprint IC electrically connected to the fingerprint sensor, and a processor electrically connected to the touch IC and the fingerprint IC. The processor is configured, if an input by the external object is sensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor, to calculate coordinates of the input based on at least part of data sensed by the touch sensor and data sensed by the fingerprint sensor.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0014589, filed on Feb. 1, 2017,in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure generally relates to a technology that determinestouch coordinates using touch sensors and fingerprint sensors.

With the development of electronic technologies, various types ofelectronic products are being developed and distributed. In particular,electronic devices capable of a variety of functions, such assmartphones, tablet PCs, or wearable devices are currently widelydistributed. These above-described electronic devices may each include adisplay panel serving as an output device for outputting visualinformation. Each electronic device may also include a touch sensorserving as an input device, which enables touch inputs by the user. Eachelectronic device may also include a fingerprint sensor for recognizingfingerprint information of the user of the electronic device.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

An electronic device may include a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensorthat are disposed on a display panel. If the fingerprint sensor isdisposed on the display panel, the fingerprint sensor may interfere withthe recognition of touch input by the touch sensor. For example, wiringsin the periphery of the fingerprint sensor and/or a shield memberincluded in the fingerprint sensor may interfere with the recognition ofthe touch input.

Embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure provide electronicdevices and methods that determine the coordinates of a touch input onthe periphery of a fingerprint sensor disposed on a display panel.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice includes a display, a touch sensor disposed in at least a partialarea of the display, a fingerprint sensor disposed in at least part ofthe partial area of the display and including a sensing area for sensingbiometric information and a wiring area in which a plurality of wiringsconnected to the sensing area are disposed, and a processor. Theprocessor is configured to using the touch sensor and the fingerprintsensor, sense an input at least partially overlapping a partial area ofthe wiring area, in response to sensing the input, to obtain firstlocation information about the input using the touch sensor and toobtain second location information about the input using the fingerprintsensor, and to determine location information of the input correspondingto the partial area of the wiring area, based at least on the firstlocation information and the second location information.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice includes a cover glass, a touch sensor disposed under the coverglass and sensing proximity of or contact by an external object, a touchintegrated circuit (IC) electrically connected to the touch sensor, afingerprint sensor disposed under the cover glass adjacent to the touchsensor, including an active area for sensing a biometric pattern of theexternal object and an inactive area surrounding a periphery of theactive area, a fingerprint IC electrically connected to the fingerprintsensor, and a processor electrically connected to the touch IC and thefingerprint IC. The processor is configured, if an input by the externalobject is sensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor, tocalculate coordinates of the input based on at least part of data sensedby the touch sensor and data sensed by the fingerprint sensor.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a touchcoordinate sensing method of an electronic device includes activating atouch sensor and a fingerprint sensor included in the electronic device,sensing an input by an external object, by using the touch sensor andthe fingerprint sensor, and if the input by the external object issensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor, calculatingcoordinates of the input based on at least part of data sensed by thetouch sensor and data sensed by the fingerprint sensor.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, if a touchinput is sensed by both a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor, thecoordinates of the touch input may be calculated based on data sensed bythe touch sensor and/or the fingerprint sensor, even when the touchinput falls on an inactive area of the fingerprint sensor. This way, thecoordinates of the touch input may be determined on the entire area ofthe display.

In addition, other advantages and features directly or indirectlyunderstood through this disclosure may be provided.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device in a network environment,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device, according toan embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a program module, according to anembodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is front and exploded perspective views of an electronic device,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is front and exploded perspective views of an electronic device,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 are graphs illustrating voltages sensed by a touch sensor and afingerprint sensor included in an electronic device over time, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment;and

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a touch coordinate sensing method ofan electronic device, according to an embodiment.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure may bedescribed with reference to accompanying drawings. Embodiments and termsused herein are not intended to limit the technologies described in thepresent disclosure to specific embodiments, and it should be understoodthat the embodiments and the terms include modification, equivalent,and/or alternative on the corresponding embodiments described herein.The terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless otherwisespecified. In the disclosure disclosed herein, the expressions “A or B,”“at least one of A or/and B,” and the like used herein may include anyand all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.Expressions such as “first,” or “second,” and the like, may expresstheir elements regardless of their priority or importance and may beused to distinguish one element from another element but is not limitedto these components. When an (e.g., first) element is referred to asbeing “(operatively or communicatively) coupled with/to” or “connectedto” another (e.g., second) element, it may be directly coupled with/toor connected to the other element or an intervening element (e.g., athird element) may be present.

According to the situation, the expression “configured to” used hereinmay be interchangeably used as, for example, the expression “suitablefor,” “having the capacity to,” “designed to,” “adapted to,” “made to,”or “capable of” The expression “a device configured to” may mean thatthe device is “capable of” operating together with another device orother components. For example, a “processor configured to (or set to)perform A, B, and C” may mean a dedicated processor (e.g., an embeddedprocessor) for performing a corresponding operation or a generic-purposeprocessor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) or an applicationprocessor) which performs corresponding operations by executing one ormore software programs which are stored in a memory device.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may include at least one of, for example, smartphones,tablet personal computers (PCs), mobile phones, video telephones,electronic book readers, desktop PCs, laptop PCs, netbook computers,workstations, servers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portablemultimedia players (PMPs), Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG-1 orMPEG-2) Audio Layer 3 (MP3) players, medical devices, cameras, orwearable devices. A wearable device may include at least one of anaccessory type of a device (e.g., a timepiece, a ring, a bracelet, ananklet, a necklace, glasses, a contact lens, or a head-mounted-device(HMD)), one-piece fabric or clothes type of a circuit (e.g., electronicclothes), a body-attached type of a circuit (e.g., a skin pad or atattoo), or a bio-implantable type of a circuit. According to anembodiment, the electronic device may include at least one of, forexample, televisions (TVs), digital versatile disc (DVD) players,audios, refrigerators, air conditioners, cleaners, ovens, microwaveovens, washing machines, air cleaners, set-top boxes, home automationcontrol panels, security control panels, media boxes (e.g., SamsungHomeSync™, Apple TV™, or Google TV™), game consoles (e.g., Xbox™ orPlayStation™) electronic dictionaries, electronic keys, camcorders,electronic picture frames, or the like.

According to another embodiment, the electronic devices may include atleast one of medical devices (e.g., various portable medical measurementdevices (e.g., a blood glucose monitoring device, a heartbeat measuringdevice, a blood pressure measuring device, a body temperature measuringdevice, and the like)), a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), amagnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a computed tomography (CT), scanners,and ultrasonic devices), navigation devices, global navigation satellitesystem (GNSS), event data recorders (EDRs), flight data recorders(FDRs), vehicle infotainment devices, electronic equipment for vessels(e.g., navigation systems, gyrocompasses, and the like), avionics,security devices, head units for vehicles, industrial or home robots,drones, automatic teller's machines (ATMs), points of sales (POSs), orinternet of things (e.g., light bulbs, various sensors, sprinklerdevices, fire alarms, thermostats, street lamps, toasters, exerciseequipment, hot water tanks, heaters, boilers, and the like). Accordingto another embodiment, the electronic devices may include at least oneof parts of furniture, buildings/structures, or vehicles, electronicboards, electronic signature receiving devices, projectors, or variousmeasuring instruments (e.g., water meters, electricity meters, gasmeters, or wave meters, and the like). According to various embodiments,an electronic device may be a flexible electronic device or may be acombination of two or more of the above-described devices. An electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may not belimited to the above-described electronic devices. The term “user” usedherein may refer to a person who uses an electronic device or may referto a device (e.g., an artificial intelligence electronic device) thatuses an electronic device.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an electronic device 101 in anetwork environment 100 according to an embodiment. The electronicdevice 101 may include a bus 110, a processor 120, a memory 130, aninput/output (I/O) interface 150, a display 160, and a communicationinterface 170. According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 maynot include at least one of the above-described elements or may furtherinclude other element(s). The bus 110 may interconnect theabove-described elements 110 to 170 and may include a circuit forconveying communications (e.g., a control message or data) among theabove-described elements. The processor 120 may include one or more of acentral processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP), or acommunication processor (CP). The processor 120 may perform, forexample, data processing or an operation associated with control orcommunication of at least one other element(s) of the electronic device101.

The memory 130 may include a volatile and/or nonvolatile memory. Forexample, the memory 130 may store instructions or data associated withat least one other element(s) of the electronic device 101. According toan embodiment, the memory 130 may store software and/or a program 140.The program 140 may include, for example, a kernel 141, a middleware143, an application programming interface (API) 145, and/or anapplication program (or an “application”) 147. At least a part of thekernel 141, the middleware 143, or the API 145 may be called an“operating system (OS)”. The kernel 141 may control or manage systemresources (e.g., the bus 110, the processor 120, the memory 130, and thelike) that are used to execute operations or functions of other programs(e.g., the middleware 143, the API 145, and the application program147). Furthermore, the kernel 141 may provide an interface that allowsthe middleware 143, the API 145, or the application program 147 toaccess discrete elements of the electronic device 101 so as to controlor manage system resources.

The middleware 143 may perform, for example, a mediation role such thatthe API 145 or the application program 147 communicates with the kernel141 to exchange data. Furthermore, the middleware 143 may process one ormore task requests received from the application program 147 accordingto a priority. For example, the middleware 143 may assign the priority,which makes it possible to use a system resource (e.g., the bus 110, theprocessor 120, the memory 130, or the like) of the electronic device101, to at least one of the application program 147 and may process thetask requests. The API 145 may be an interface through which theapplication program 147 controls a function provided by the kernel 141or the middleware 143, and may include, for example, at least oneinterface or function (e.g., an instruction) for a file control, awindow control, image processing, a character control, or the like. Forexample, the I/O interface 150 may transmit an instruction or data,input from a user or another external device, to other element(s) of theelectronic device 101, or may output an instruction or data, input fromthe other element(s) of the electronic device 101, to the user or theexternal device.

The display 160 may include, for example, a liquid crystal display(LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED)display, or a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, or anelectronic paper display. The display 160 may display, for example,various kinds of content (e.g., a text, an image, a video, an icon, asymbol, or the like) to a user. The display 160 may include a touchscreen and may receive, for example, a touch, gesture, proximity, orhovering input using an electronic pen or a portion of a user's body.The communication interface 170 may establish communication between theelectronic device 101 and an external electronic device (e.g., a firstexternal electronic device 102, a second external electronic device 104,or a server 106). For example, the communication interface 170 may beconnected to a network 162 through wireless communication or wiredcommunication to communicate with an external device (e.g., the secondexternal electronic device 104 or the server 106).

The wireless communication may include a cellular communication thatuses at least one of, for example, a long-term evolution (LTE), an LTEAdvance (LTE-A), a code division multiple access (CDMA), a wideband CDMA(WCDMA), a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), a wirelessbroadband (WiBro), a global system for mobile communications (GSM), orthe like. According to an embodiment, the local area network may includeat least one of wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Bluetooth lowenergy (BLE), Zigbee, near field communication (NFC), magnetic securetransmission (MST), or radio frequency (RF), or body area network (BAN).According to an embodiment, a wireless communication may include theGNSS. The GNSS may be, for example, a global positioning system (GPS), aglobal navigation satellite system (Glonass), a Beidou NavigationSatellite System (hereinafter referred to as “Beidou”), or an Europeanglobal satellite-based navigation system (Galileo). In thisspecification, “GPS” and “GNSS” may be interchangeably used. The wiredcommunication may include at least one of, for example, a universalserial bus (USB), a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), arecommended standard-232 (RS-232), a power line communication, a plainold telephone service (POTS), or the like. The network 162 may includeat least one of a telecommunication network, for example, a computernetwork (e.g., LAN or WAN), an Internet, or a telephone network.

Each of the first and second external electronic devices 102 and 104 maybe a device of which the type is different from or the same as that ofthe electronic device 101. According to various embodiments, all or apart of operations that the electronic device 101 will perform may beexecuted by another or plural electronic devices (e.g., the electronicdevices 102 and 104 or the server 106). According to an embodiment, inthe case where the electronic device 101 executes any function orservice automatically or in response to a request, the electronic device101 may not perform the function or the service internally, but,alternatively additionally, it may request at least a part of a functionassociated with the electronic device 701 at other device (e.g., theelectronic device 102 or 104 or the server 106). The other electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104 or the server 106) mayexecute the requested function or additional function and may transmitthe execution result to the electronic device 101. The electronic device101 may provide the requested function or service by processing thereceived result as it is, or additionally. To this end, for example,cloud computing, distributed computing, or client-server computing maybe used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device 201according to an embodiment. An electronic device 201 may include, forexample, all or a part of an electronic device 101 illustrated inFIG. 1. The electronic device 201 may include one or more processors(e.g., an application processor (AP)) 210, a communication module 220, asubscriber identification module 224, a memory 230, a sensor module 240,an input device 250, a display 260, an interface 270, an audio module280, a camera module 291, a power management module 295, a battery 296,an indicator 297, and a motor 298. The processor 210 may drive anoperating system (OS) or an application program to control a pluralityof hardware or software elements connected to the processor 210 and mayprocess and compute a variety of data. The processor 210 may beimplemented with a System on Chip (SoC), for example. According to anembodiment, the processor 210 may further include a graphic processingunit (GPU) and/or an image signal processor. The processor 210 mayinclude at least a part (e.g., a cellular module 221) of elementsillustrated in FIG. 2. The processor 210 may load and process aninstruction or data, which is received from at least one of otherelements (e.g., a nonvolatile memory) and may store result data in anonvolatile memory. The processor 210 may include a microprocessor orany suitable type of processing circuitry, such as one or moregeneral-purpose processors (e.g., ARM-based processors), a DigitalSignal Processor (DSP), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), anApplication-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA), a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU), a video cardcontroller, etc. In addition, it would be recognized that when a generalpurpose computer accesses code for implementing the processing shownherein, the execution of the code transforms the general purposecomputer into a special purpose computer for executing the processingshown herein. Any of the functions and steps provided in the Figures maybe implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both and may beperformed in whole or in part within the programmed instructions of acomputer. No claim element herein is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for.” In addition, an artisanunderstands and appreciates that a “processor” or “microprocessor” maybe hardware in the claimed disclosure. Under the broadest reasonableinterpretation, the appended claims are statutory subject matter incompliance with 35 U.S.C. § 101.

The communication module 220 may be configured the same as or similar toa communication interface 170. For example, the communication module 220may include a cellular module 221, a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) module223, a Bluetooth (BT) module 225, a global navigation satellite system(GNSS) module 227, a near field communication (NFC) module 228, and aradio frequency (RF) module 229. The cellular module 221 may providevoice communication, video communication, a character service, anInternet service, or the like through a communication network. Accordingto an embodiment, the cellular module 221 may perform discrimination andauthentication of the electronic device 201 within a communicationnetwork using a subscriber identification module 224 (e.g., a SIM card),for example. According to an embodiment, the cellular module 221 mayperform at least a portion of functions that the processor 210 provides.According to an embodiment, the cellular module 221 may include acommunication processor (CP). According to an embodiment, at least apart (e.g., two or more elements) of the cellular module 221, the Wi-Fimodule 223, the BT module 225, the GPS module 227, or the NFC module 228may be included within one Integrated Circuit (IC) or an IC package. TheRF module 229 may transmit and receive, for example, a communicationsignal (e.g., an RF signal). The RF module 229 may include atransceiver, a power amplifier module (PAM), a frequency filter, a lownoise amplifier (LNA), an antenna, or the like. According to variousembodiments, at least one of the cellular module 221, the Wi-Fi module223, the BT module 225, the GNSS module 227, or the NFC module 228 maytransmit and receive an RF signal through a separate RF module. Thesubscriber identification module 224 may include, for example, a card oran embedded SIM which includes a subscriber identification module andmay include unique identification information (e.g., integrated circuitcard identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., integratedmobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).

For example, the memory 230 (e.g., the memory 130) may include aninternal memory 232 or an external memory 234. For example, the internalmemory 232 may include at least one of a volatile memory (e.g., adynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronousDRAM (SDRAM), or the like), a nonvolatile memory (e.g., a one-timeprogrammable read only memory (OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), anerasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable andprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a flash memory, ahard drive, or a solid state drive (SSD). The external memory 234 mayinclude a flash drive such as compact flash (CF), secure digital (SD),micro secure digital (Micro-SD), mini secure digital (Mini-SD), extremedigital (xD), a multimedia card (MMC), a memory stick, or the like. Theexternal memory 234 may be functionally or physically connected with theelectronic device 201 through various interfaces.

The sensor module 240 may measure, for example, a physical quantity ormay detect an operating state of the electronic device 201. The sensormodule 240 may convert the measured or detected information to anelectric signal. The sensor module 240 may include at least one of agesture sensor 240A, a gyro sensor 240B, a pressure sensor 240C, amagnetic sensor 240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, aproximity sensor 240G, a color sensor 240H (e.g., a red, green, blue(RGB) sensor), a biometric sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor240J, an illuminance sensor 240K, or an UV sensor 240M. Although notillustrated, additionally or generally, the sensor module 240 mayfurther include, for example, an e-nose sensor, an electromyographysensor (EMG) sensor, an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, anelectrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an iris sensor,and/or a fingerprint sensor. The sensor module 240 may further include acontrol circuit that controls at least one or more sensors includedtherein. According to an embodiment, the electronic device 201 mayfurther include a processor which is a part of the processor 210 orindependent of the processor 210 and is configured to control the sensormodule 240. The processor may control the sensor module 240 while theprocessor 210 remains at a sleep state.

The input device 250 may include, for example, a touch panel 252, a(digital) pen sensor 254, a key 256, or an ultrasonic input device 258.The touch panel 252 may use at least one of capacitive, resistive,infrared and ultrasonic detecting methods. Also, the touch panel 252 mayfurther include a control circuit. The touch panel 252 may furtherinclude a tactile layer to provide a tactile reaction to a user. The(digital) pen sensor 254 may be, for example, a part of a touch panel ormay include an additional sheet for recognition. The key 256 mayinclude, for example, a physical button, an optical key, a keypad, andthe like. The ultrasonic input device 258 may detect (or sense) anultrasonic signal, which is generated from an input device, through amicrophone (e.g., a microphone 288) and may verify data corresponding tothe detected ultrasonic signal.

The display 260 (e.g., the display 160) may include a panel 262, ahologram device 264, a projector 266, and/or a control circuit thatcontrols the panel 262, the hologram device 264, and the projector 266.The panel 262 may be implemented to be flexible, transparent orwearable, for example. The panel 262 and the touch panel 252 may beintegrated into one or more modules. According to an embodiment, thepanel 262 may include a pressure sensor (or a “force sensor”) that iscapable of measuring the intensity of pressure on the touch of the user.The pressure sensor may be integrated with the touch panel 252 or may beimplemented with one or more sensors that are independent of the touchpanel 252. The hologram device 264 may display a stereoscopic image in aspace using a light interference phenomenon. The projector 266 mayproject light onto a screen so as to display an image. The screen may bearranged inside or outside the electronic device 201. The interface 270may include, for example, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI)272, a universal serial bus (USB) 274, an optical interface 276, or aD-subminiature (D-sub) 278. The interface 270 may be included, forexample, in the communication interface 170 illustrated in FIG. 1.Additionally or alternatively, the interface 270 may include, forexample, a mobile high definition link (MHL) interface, a secure Digital(SD) card/multi-media card (MMC) interface, or an infrared dataassociation (IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module 280 may convert a sound and an electric signal in dualdirections. At least a part of the audio module 280 may be included, forexample, in the I/O interface 150 illustrated in FIG. 1. The audiomodule 280 may process, for example, sound information that is input oroutput through a speaker 282, a receiver 284, an earphone 286, or amicrophone 288. The camera module 291 for shooting a still image or avideo may include, for example, at least one image sensor (e.g., a frontsensor or a rear sensor), a lens, an image signal processor (ISP), or aflash (e.g., an LED or a xenon lamp) The power management module 295 maymanage, for example, power of the electronic device 201. According to anembodiment, the power management module 295 may include a powermanagement integrated circuit (PMIC), a charger IC, or a battery or fuelgauge. The PMIC may have a wired charging method and/or a wirelesscharging method. The wireless charging method may include, for example,a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, or anelectromagnetic method and may further include an additional circuit,for example, a coil loop, a resonant circuit, a rectifier, or the like.The battery gauge may measure, for example, a remaining capacity of thebattery 296 and a voltage, current or temperature thereof while thebattery is charged. The battery 296 may include, for example, arechargeable battery and/or a solar battery.

The indicator 297 may display a specific state of the electronic device201 or a part thereof (e.g., the processor 210), such as a bootingstate, a message state, a charging state, and the like. The motor 298may convert an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration and maygenerate the following effects: vibration, haptic, and the like. Forexample, the electronic device 201 may include a mobile TV supportingdevice that processes media data according to the standards of digitalmultimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital video broadcasting (DVB),MediaFlo™, or the like. Each of the above-mentioned elements of theelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be configured with one or more components, and the namesof the elements may be changed according to the type of the electronicdevice. According to various embodiments, the electronic device (e.g.,the electronic device 201) may exclude some elements or may furtherinclude other additional elements. Alternatively, some of the elementsof the electronic device may be combined with each other so as to formone entity, so that the functions of the elements may be performed inthe same manner as before the combination.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a program module, according to anembodiment. According to an embodiment, a program module 310 (e.g., theprogram 140) may include an operating system (OS) to control resourcesassociated with an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101),and/or diverse applications (e.g., the application program 147) drivenon the OS. The OS may include, for example, Android™, iOS™, Windows™,Symbian™, Tizen™, or Bada™. Referring to FIG. 3, the program module 310may include a kernel 320 (e.g., the kernel 141), a middleware 330 (e.g.,the middleware 143), an API 360 (e.g., the API 145), and/or anapplication 370 (e.g., the application program 147). At least a part ofthe program module 310 may be preloaded on an electronic device or maybe downloadable from an external electronic device (e.g., the electronicdevice 102 or 104, the server 106, or the like).

The kernel 320 may include, for example, a system resource manager 321and/or a device driver 323. The system resource manager 321 may performcontrol, allocation, or retrieval of system resources. According to anembodiment, the system resource manager 321 may include a processmanaging unit, a memory managing unit, or a file system managing unit.The device driver 323 may include, for example, a display driver, acamera driver, a Bluetooth driver, a common memory driver, an USBdriver, a keypad driver, a Wi-Fi driver, an audio driver, or aninter-process communication (IPC) driver. The middleware 330 mayprovide, for example, a function which the application 370 needs incommon or may provide diverse functions to the application 370 throughthe API 360 to allow the application 370 to use limited system resourcesof the electronic device. According to an embodiment, the middleware 330may include at least one of a runtime library 335, an applicationmanager 341, a window manager 342, a multimedia manager 343, a resourcemanager 344, a power manager 345, a database manager 346, a packagemanager 347, a connectivity manager 348, a notification manager 349, alocation manager 350, a graphic manager 351, or a security manager 352.

The runtime library 335 may include, for example, a library module,which is used by a compiler, to add a new function through a programminglanguage while the application 370 is being executed. The runtimelibrary 335 may perform input/output management, memory management, orprocessing of arithmetic functions. The application manager 341 maymanage, for example, the life cycle of the application 370. The windowmanager 342 may manage a GUI resource which is used in a screen. Themultimedia manager 343 may identify a format necessary to play mediafiles, and may perform encoding or decoding of media files by using acodec suitable for the format. The resource manager 344 may managesource code of the application 370 or a space of a memory. For example,the power manager 345 may manage the capacity of a battery or power andmay provide power information that is needed to operate an electronicdevice. According to an embodiment, the power manager 345 may operate inconjunction with a basic input/output system (BIOS). For example, thedatabase manager 346 may generate, search for, or modify a databasewhich is to be used in the application 370. The package manager 347 mayinstall or update an application which is distributed in the form of apackage file.

The connectivity manager 348 may manage, for example, wirelessconnection. The notification manager 349 may provide a user with anevent such as an arrival message, an appointment, or a proximitynotification. The location manager 350 may manage, for example, locationinformation of an electronic device. The graphic manager 351 may manage,for example, a graphic effect to be provided to a user or a userinterface relevant thereto. The security manager 352 may provide, forexample, system security or user authentication. According to anembodiment, the middleware 330 may include a telephony manager, whichmanages a voice or video call function of the electronic device, or amiddleware module that combines functions of the above-describedelements. According to an embodiment, the middleware 330 may provide amodule specialized to each OS kind. The middleware 330 may remove a partof the preexisting elements, dynamically, or may add new elementsthereto. The API 360 may be, for example, a set of programming functionsand may be provided with another configuration which is variabledepending on an OS. For example, in the case where an OS is the androidor iOS™, it may be permissible to provide one API set per platform. Inthe case where an OS is Tizen™, it may be permissible to provide two ormore API sets per platform.

The application 370 may include, for example, a home 371, a dialer 372,an SMS/MMS 373, an instant message (IM) 374, a browser 375, a camera376, an alarm 377, a contact 378, a voice dial 379, an e-mail 380, acalendar 381, a media player 382, an album 383, a watch 384, health care(e.g., measuring an exercise quantity, blood sugar, or the like), or anapplication for offering environment information (e.g., atmosphericpressure, humidity, or temperature). According to an embodiment, theapplication 370 may include an information exchanging application thatsupports information exchange between an electronic device and anexternal electronic device. The information exchanging application mayinclude, for example, a notification relay application for transmittingspecific information to the external electronic device, or a devicemanagement application for managing the external electronic device. Forexample, the notification relay application may send notificationinformation, which is generated from other applications of an electronicdevice, to an external electronic device or may receive the notificationinformation from the external electronic device and may provide a userwith the notification information. The device management application mayinstall, delete, or update, for example, a function (e.g.,turn-on/turn-off of an external electronic device itself (or a part ofcomponents) or adjustment of brightness (or resolution) of a display) ofthe external electronic device, which communicates with an electronicdevice, or an application running in the external electronic device.According to an embodiment, the application 370 may include anapplication (e.g., a health care application of a mobile medical device)that is assigned in accordance with an attribute of the externalelectronic device. According to an embodiment, the application 370 mayinclude an application received from an external electronic device. Atleast a part of the program module 310 may be implemented (e.g.,performed) by software, firmware, hardware (e.g., the processor 210), ora combination of two or more thereof, and may include modules, programs,routines, sets of instructions, or processes for performing one or morefunctions.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, an electronic device 400 (e.g., the electronicdevice 101 or the electronic device 201) according to an embodiment mayinclude a touch sensor 420 (e.g., the touch panel 252), a touch IC 430,a fingerprint sensor 440 (e.g., the biometric sensor 240I), afingerprint IC 450, and a processor 470 (e.g., the processor 120 or theprocessor 210). For example, the electronic device 400 may be one ofvarious devices such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, a wearable device,and the like. The electronic device 400 may be referred to as a “mobiledevice,” a “mobile terminal,” “user equipment (UE),” or the like.

The touch sensor 420 may sense the proximity or actual contact of anexternal object. For example, the touch sensor 420 may sense theproximity or contact of an external object (e.g. the user's finger) tothe cover glass of the display panel. The touch sensor 420 may be one ofvarious types of sensors such as a resistive sensor, a capacitivesensor, an optical sensor, and the like.

The touch IC 430 may be electrically connected to the touch sensor 420.The touch IC 430 may control the touch sensor 420. The touch IC 430 maydetermine the coordinates of the touch input based on the signalreceived from the touch sensor 420. The touch IC 430 may transmit thecoordinates of the touch input to the processor 470.

The fingerprint sensor 440 may be disposed to be adjacent to the touchsensor 420. In one example, the fingerprint sensor 440 may be acapacitive sensor. The fingerprint sensor 440 may recognize fingerprintsby measuring a voltage of a part adjacent to the ridge of thefingerprint and a voltage of a part adjacent to the valley of thefingerprint. The fingerprint sensor 440 may include an active area forsensing the fingerprint and an inactive area surrounding the peripheryof the active area. For example, the active area may include electrodesfor sensing the fingerprint. The inactive area may include otherelectrical components, such as wires that are electrically connected tothe electrodes.

In detail, the exemplary arrangement of the fingerprint sensor 440 andthe touch sensor 420 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

According to an embodiment, the fingerprint IC 450 may be electricallyconnected to the fingerprint sensor 440. The fingerprint IC 450 maydetermine the fingerprint based on the signal received from thefingerprint sensor 440. The fingerprint IC 450 may also determine thecoordinates of a touch input based on the signal received from thefingerprint sensor 440. For example, the touch input may be generatedwhen the user's finger touches the fingerprint sensor 440. Thefingerprint IC 450 may transmit the coordinates of the touch input tothe processor 470.

According to an embodiment, the fingerprint IC 450 may be electricallyconnected to the touch IC 430. According to an embodiment, the touch IC430 and/or the fingerprint IC 450 may transmit, to the processor 470, atleast part of the coordinates at which a touch input is sensed by thetouch sensor 420, and at least part of the coordinates at which a touchinput is sensed by the fingerprint sensor 440. For example, the touch IC430 and the fingerprint IC 450 may collect signals from the touch sensor420 and the fingerprint sensor 440 and generate sets of collectedcoordinates. The touch IC 430 and the fingerprint IC 450 may thenextract coordinates from the sets of collected coordinates and maytransmit the extracted coordinates to the processor 470. As describedbelow, the processor 470 may further process the extracted coordinatesto further determine the coordinates of the input in the inactive areaof the fingerprint sensor 440.

The processor 470 may be electrically connected to the touch IC 430 andthe fingerprint IC 450. The processor 470 may control the touch IC 430and the fingerprint IC 450.

According to an embodiment, the processor 470, using the touch sensor420 and the fingerprint sensor 440, may sense the input by the externalobject. For example, if a voltage sensed by the touch sensor 420 and thefingerprint sensor 440 is changed by the proximity or contact of theexternal object, the processor 470 may obtain the coordinates of theinput. Alternatively, the processor 470 may receive the coordinates ofthe input from other components such as the touch IC 430 and/or thefingerprint IC 450.

According to an embodiment, if the input by the external object (e.g.touch input by the user's finger) is sensed by both the touch sensor 420and the fingerprint sensor 440, the processor 470 may calculate thecoordinates of the input based at least partly on data sensed by thetouch sensor 420 and data sensed by the fingerprint sensor 440. Forexample, if the input by the external object is sensed by the touchsensor 420 and the fingerprint sensor 440, the processor 470 may receivethe coordinates from the touch IC 430 and/or the fingerprint IC 450. Theprocessor 470 may calculate the coordinates of the input based on thecoordinates received from the touch IC 430 and/or the fingerprint IC450. In another example, using the touch sensor 420 and the fingerprintsensor 440, the processor 470 may determine that the input is placedover an inactive area of the fingerprint sensor 440. The processor 470may then obtain first location information of the input by using thetouch sensor 420 and may obtain second location information of the inputby using the fingerprint sensor 440. The processor 470 may thendetermine the coordinates of the input using the first locationinformation and the second location information. The processor 470 maytreat the touch input corresponding to the location information asreceived. In detail, an exemplary method of calculating coordinates willbe described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.

FIG. 5 is front and exploded perspective views of an electronic device,according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, an electronic device 500 according to an embodimentmay include a display panel 510, a touch sensor 520, a fingerprintsensor 540, and a cover glass 560. The touch sensor 520 and thefingerprint sensor 540 in FIG. 5 may have the same configurations as thetouch sensor 420 and the fingerprint sensor 440 in FIG. 4.

The display panel 510 may be disposed under a first area 501, a secondarea 502, and a third area 503 of the electronic device 500. The displaypanel 510 may output an image.

The touch sensor 520 may be disposed on the display panel 510, such asin at least a partial area of the display panel 510. For proximity ortouch detection, the touch sensor 520 may include electrodes thatintersect with each other. Accordingly, the touch sensor 520 may sensean external object (e.g. human body) that contacts the cover glass 560or is adjacent to the cover glass 560.

The fingerprint sensor 540 may be disposed on the touch sensor 520. In atop view as shown on the left of FIG. 5, the fingerprint sensor 540 mayoverlap the touch sensor 520. The fingerprint sensor 540 may be disposedin at least a partial area of the display panel 510. The fingerprintsensor 540 may include an active area (or sensing area) for sensing thefingerprint pattern (or biometric information) of the external objectand an inactive area (or wiring area) surrounding the periphery of theactive area. The active area of the fingerprint sensor 540 may includeelectrodes that intersect with each other. For purposes of fingerprintdetection, the electrodes of the fingerprint sensor 540 may be arrangedmore densely than the electrodes of the touch sensor 520. Thefingerprint sensor 540 may include electrodes in the active area andwirings disposed in the inactive area. Although not illustrated in FIG.5, the fingerprint sensor 540 may include a shield member disposed inthe inactive area for the purpose of shielding electromagnetic wavesemitted from the electrodes and wirings of the fingerprint sensor 540.According to an embodiment, using the shielding member, it is possibleto prevent electromagnetic interference between the touch sensor 520 andthe fingerprint sensor 540. The shield member may be disposed aboveand/or below the wirings. The fingerprint sensor 540 may interfere withthe operations of the touch sensor 520 where the touch sensor 520overlaps the fingerprint sensor 540.

For example, the touch sensor 520 may sense the input by the externalobject in the first area 501. The fingerprint sensor 540 may sense theinput by the external object in the second area 502. The second area 502may be an area corresponding to the active area of the fingerprintsensor 540. The third area 503 may be an area corresponding to theinactive area of the fingerprint sensor 540. The touch sensor 520 maynot sense the input by the external object in the second area 502 andthe third area 503 due to the fingerprint sensor 540 being present. Thefingerprint sensor 540 may not sense the input by the external object inthe third area 503 because it corresponds to the inactive area. If theinput by the external object to the third area 503 occurs, theelectronic device 500 (i.e. the processor in the electronic device 500)may calculate the coordinates corresponding to the input, based on datasensed by the touch sensor 520 and/or data sensed by the fingerprintsensor 540.

The cover glass 560 may be disposed on the fingerprint sensor 540. Thecover glass 560 may protect the fingerprint sensor 540, the touch sensor520, and the display panel 510.

FIG. 6 is front and exploded perspective views of an electronic device,according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, an electronic device 600 according to an embodimentmay include a display panel 610, a touch sensor 620, a fingerprintsensor 640, and a cover glass 660. The touch sensor 620 and thefingerprint sensor 640 in FIG. 6 may have the same configurations as thetouch sensor 420 and the fingerprint sensor 440 in FIG. 4. The displaypanel 610 and the cover glass 660 in FIG. 6 may have the sameconfigurations as the display panel 510 and the cover glass 560 in FIG.5.

The touch sensor 620 and the fingerprint sensor 640 may be disposedunder the cover glass 660. According to an embodiment, the fingerprintsensor 640 and the touch sensor 620 may be disposed on the same plane.For example, the fingerprint sensor 640 may be disposed such that theinactive area of the fingerprint sensor 640 is laterally adjacent to thetouch sensor 620. A space for containing the fingerprint sensor 640 maybe formed in the touch sensor 620.

For example, the touch sensor 620 may sense the input by the externalobject in a first area 601. The fingerprint sensor 640 may sense theinput by the external object in a second area 602. The second area 602may be an area corresponding to the active area of the fingerprintsensor 640. A third area 603 may be an area corresponding to theinactive area of the fingerprint sensor 640. The touch sensor 620 or thefingerprint sensor 640 may not sense the input by the external object inthe third area 603 because it corresponds to the inactive area. If theinput by the external object to the third area 603 occurs, theelectronic device 600 (i.e. the processor in the electronic device 600)may calculate the coordinates corresponding to the input, based on datasensed by the touch sensor 620 and/or data sensed by the fingerprintsensor 640.

FIG. 7 are graphs illustrating voltages sensed by a touch sensor and afingerprint sensor included in an electronic device over time, accordingto an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, an electronic device according to an embodiment maysense change in voltage from a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor.For example, the touch sensor may sense a first falling voltageVt_fall^(1st) caused by a first touch input during a first time intervalt1. The fingerprint sensor may sense a fourth falling voltageVf_fall^(4th) caused by the first touch input during the first timeinterval t1. In this case, the electronic device may determine that thefirst touch input is applied to the fingerprint sensor (e.g. the firsttouch input is in the second area 502). The electronic device may thenrecognize the biometric pattern (e.g. fingerprint) of the externalobject (e.g. the user's finger) applying the first touch input, by usingthe fingerprint sensor.

For another example, the touch sensor may sense a second falling voltageVt_fall^(2nd) caused by a second touch input during a second timeinterval t2. The fingerprint sensor may sense a fifth falling voltageVf_fall^(5th) caused by the second touch input during the second timeinterval t2. In this case, the electronic device may determine that thesecond touch input is applied to the touch sensor (e.g. the second touchinput is in the first area 501). The electronic device may thenrecognize the coordinates of the second touch input, by using the touchsensor.

According to an embodiment, if the voltage sensed in the area of thetouch sensor adjacent to the fingerprint sensor is with a first range r1and the voltage sensed in the area of the fingerprint sensor adjacent tothe touch sensor is within a second range r2, the electronic device maydetermine that the input by the external object is sensed by both thetouch sensor and the fingerprint sensor. For example, the touch sensormay sense a third falling voltage Vt_fall^(3rd) caused by a third touchinput during a third time interval t3. The fingerprint sensor may sensea sixth falling voltage Vf_fall^(6th) caused by the third touch inputduring the third time interval t3. If the sixth falling voltageVf_fall^(6th) is within the first range r1 and the third falling voltageVt_fall^(3rd) is within the second range r2, the electronic device maydetermine that the input by the external object is sensed by both thetouch sensor and the fingerprint sensor. In this case, the electronicdevice may calculate the coordinates of the third touch input based onat least part of the data sensed by the touch sensor and the fingerprintsensor. In detail, an exemplary method of calculating coordinates willbe described below with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, the electronic device according to an embodimentmay include a touch sensor 820 and a fingerprint sensor 840. The touchsensor 820 and the fingerprint sensor 840 in FIG. 8 may have the sameconfigurations as the touch sensor 620 and the fingerprint sensor 640 inFIG. 6.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device (e.g., the processor470, the touch IC 430, and/or the fingerprint IC 450) may calculatecoordinates of an input by an external object, based on coordinates onthe boundary of the touch sensor 820 where the input is sensed. Forexample, the touch sensor 820 and the fingerprint sensor 840 may bothsense the input at an area X. The electronic device may obtaincoordinates 821 on the boundary of the touch sensor 820, at each ofwhich the input by the external object is sensed. For example, thecoordinates 821 on the boundary of the touch sensor 820 may be insidethe area X. The electronic device may then estimate a virtualrectangular area 850 based on the obtained coordinates 821. Thecoordinates of the center point of the virtual rectangular area 850 maybe used as the coordinates of the input.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, the electronic device according to an embodimentmay include a touch sensor 920 and a fingerprint sensor 940. The touchsensor 920 and the fingerprint sensor 940 in FIG. 9 may have the sameconfigurations as the touch sensor 620 and the fingerprint sensor 640 inFIG. 6.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device (e.g., the processor470, the touch IC 430, and/or the fingerprint IC 450) may calculatecoordinates of an input by an external object, based on coordinates onthe boundary of the touch sensor 920 and on the boundary of thefingerprint sensor 940 where the input is sensed. For example, the touchsensor 920 and the fingerprint sensor 940 may both sense the input to anarea X. The electronic device may obtain coordinates 921 on the boundaryof the touch sensor 920, at each of which the input by the externalobject is sensed. The electronic device may also obtain coordinates 941on the boundary of the fingerprint sensor 940, at each of which theinput by the external object is sensed. For example, the coordinates 921on the boundary of the touch sensor 920 and the coordinates 941 on theboundary of the fingerprint sensor 940 may be inside the area X. Theelectronic device may then estimate a virtual polygonal area 950 basedon the obtained coordinates 921 and 941. The coordinates of the centerpoint of the virtual polygonal area 950 (e.g., the center of gravity orthe circumcenter) may be used as the coordinates of the input.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10, the electronic device according to an embodimentmay include a touch sensor 1020 and a fingerprint sensor 1040. The touchsensor 1020 and the fingerprint sensor 1040 in FIG. 10 may have the sameconfigurations as the touch sensor 620 and the fingerprint sensor 640 inFIG. 6.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device (e.g., the processor470, the touch IC 430, or the fingerprint IC 450) may calculate thecoordinates of an input by an external object, based on coordinates onthe edge of the area of the input sensed by the touch sensor 1020 andthe fingerprint sensor 1040. For example, the touch sensor 1020 and thefingerprint sensor 1040 may both sense the input at an area X. Theelectronic device may obtain coordinates 1021 where the electrodes ofthe touch sensor 1020 intersect the edge of the sensed input. Theelectronic device may obtain coordinates 1041 where the electrodes ofthe fingerprint sensor 1040 intersect the edge of the sensed input. Forexample, the coordinates 1021 or 1041 may be on the edge of the area X.The electronic device may then estimate a virtual circular area 1050 (oran elliptical area) based on the obtained coordinates 1021 and 1041. Thecoordinates of the center point of the virtual circular area 1050 may beused as the coordinates of the input.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 11, the electronic device according to an embodimentmay include a touch sensor 1120 and a fingerprint sensor 1140. The touchsensor 1120 and the fingerprint sensor 1140 in FIG. 11 may have the sameconfigurations as the touch sensor 620 and the fingerprint sensor 640 inFIG. 6.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device (e.g., the processor470) may calculate coordinates of an input by an external object byapplying linear interpolation or weighted interpolation to allcoordinates at each of which the input is sensed by the touch sensor1120 and the fingerprint sensor 1140. For example, the touch sensor 1120and the fingerprint sensor 1140 may both sense the input at an area X.The electronic device may obtain coordinates 1121 at each of which theinput by the external object is sensed by the touch sensor 1120. Theelectronic device may obtain coordinates 1141 at each of which the inputby the external object is sensed by the fingerprint sensor 1140. Forexample, the electronic device may obtain all the coordinates 1121 and1141 inside the area X. The electronic device may apply the linearinterpolation or the weighted interpolation to the obtained coordinates1121 and 1141.

An exemplary equation for applying linear interpolation is as follows.(x _(t) ,y _(t))=Σ(x,y)/N  [Equation 1]

Herein, (x_(t), y_(t)) denotes the coordinates of the input resultingfrom the linear interpolation, (x, y) denotes each of the coordinates1121 and 1141 obtained by the touch sensor 1120 and the fingerprintsensor 1140, and N denotes the number of coordinates 1121 and 1141obtained by the touch sensor 1120 and the fingerprint sensor 1140.

An exemplary equation for applying weighted interpolation is as follows.(x _(t) ,y _(t))={αΣ(x,y)_(touch)+βΣ(x,y)_(fingerprint) }/N  [Equation2]

Herein, α denotes the weight of the coordinates 1121 obtained by touchsensor 1120, (x, y)_(touch) denotes each of the coordinates 1121obtained by the touch sensor 1120, β denotes the weight of thecoordinates 1141 obtained by the fingerprint sensor 1140, and (x,y)_(fingerprint) denotes each of the coordinates 1141 obtained by thefingerprint sensor 1140.

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating an exemplary embodiment in which anelectronic device calculates coordinates, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12, the electronic device according to an embodimentmay include a touch sensor 1220 and a fingerprint sensor 1240. The touchsensor 1220 and the fingerprint sensor 1240 in FIG. 12 may have the sameconfigurations as the touch sensor 620 and the fingerprint sensor 640 inFIG. 6.

According to an embodiment, if a fingerprint is recognized by thefingerprint sensor 1240, the electronic device (e.g., the processor 470)may store an image corresponding to the fingerprint. For example, theelectronic device may recognize the fingerprint by using the fingerprintsensor 1240. If the fingerprint is recognized by the fingerprint sensor1240, the electronic device may store a fingerprint image 1260corresponding to the fingerprint.

According to an embodiment, if an input by an external object is sensedby both the touch sensor 1220 and the fingerprint sensor 1240, theelectronic device may estimate an area in which the external object isto be recognized by the touch sensor 1220 and the fingerprint sensor1240, based on the fingerprint image and an image corresponding to theexternal object. For example, if the input to an area X is sensed byboth the touch sensor 1220 and the fingerprint sensor 1240, thefingerprint sensor 1240 may obtain the coordinates 1241, at each ofwhich the input is sensed. The electronic device may obtain an image1250 of the external object sensed on the coordinates 1241, by using thefingerprint sensor 1240. The electronic device may match the image 1250of the external object to the fingerprint image 1260. The electronicdevice may then determine that the area X is an area extending over theupper-left portion of the fingerprint sensor 1240, based on matching theimage 1250 with the fingerprint image 1260. The electronic device mayalso estimate the area X based on the fingerprint image 1260 and theimage 1250 of the external object.

According to above embodiments, the electronic device may calculate thecoordinates corresponding to an input by an external object, based on anarea in which the external object is to be recognized. For example, theelectronic device may estimate an area X where the external object issensed and may calculate the center point of the area X as thecoordinates of the input.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a touch coordinate sensing method ofan electronic device, according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the electronic device 400 of FIG. 4performs a process of FIG. 13. For example, the processor 470 of theelectronic device 400 may execute the operations of FIG. 13.

Referring to FIG. 13, in operation 1310, the electronic device (e.g.,the processor 470) may activate a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor.For example, if a display is activated, the electronic device may supplypower to the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor.

In operation 1320, the electronic device (e.g., the processor 470) maysense an input by an external object using the touch sensor and thefingerprint sensor. For example, the electronic device may sense theinput by the external object by sensing changes in the voltages sensedin the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor.

In operation 1330, the electronic device (e.g., the processor 470) maydetermine whether the input by the external object is sensed by both thetouch sensor and the fingerprint sensor. For example, if the voltagesensed by the touch sensor is within a first range and the voltagesensed by the fingerprint sensor is within a second range, theelectronic device may determine that the input by the external object issensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor.

If the input by the external object is sensed by the touch sensor andfingerprint sensor, in operation 1340, the electronic device (e.g., theprocessor 470) may calculate the coordinates of the input based on atleast part of the data sensed by the touch sensor and the fingerprintsensor. For example, the electronic device may calculate the coordinatesof the input using the method described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.

The term “module” used herein may include a unit, which is implementedwith hardware, software, or firmware, and may be interchangeably usedwith the terms “logic,” “logical block,” “component,” “circuit,” or thelike. The “module” may be an unit of an integrated component or a partthereof for performing one or more functions or a part thereof. The“module” may be implemented mechanically or electronically and mayinclude, for example, an application-specific IC (ASIC) chip, afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a programmable-logic devicefor performing some operations, which are known or will be developed.According to various embodiments, at least a part of an apparatus (e.g.,modules or functions thereof) or a method (e.g., operations) may be, forexample, implemented by instructions stored in a computer-readablestorage media (e.g., the memory 130) in the form of a program module.The instruction, when executed by a processor (e.g., a processor 120),may cause the processor to perform a function corresponding to theinstruction. The computer-readable recording medium may include a harddisk, a floppy disk, a magnetic media (e.g., a magnetic tape), anoptical media (e.g., a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) and adigital versatile disc (DVD), a magneto-optical media (e.g., a flopticaldisk)), an embedded memory, and the like. The instruction may includecodes created by a compiler or codes that are capable of being executedby a computer by using an interpreter. According to various embodiments,a module or a program module may include at least one of the aboveelements, or a part of the above elements may be omitted, or otherelements may be further included. According to various embodiments,operations executed by modules, program modules, or other elements maybe executed by a successive method, a parallel method, a repeatedmethod, or a heuristic method, or at least one part of operations may beexecuted in different sequences or omitted. Alternatively, otheroperations may be added.

Certain aspects of the above-described embodiments of the presentdisclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware or via the executionof software or computer code that can be stored in a recording mediumsuch as a CD ROM, a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a magnetic tape, aRAM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk or computercode downloaded over a network originally stored on a remote recordingmedium or a non-transitory machine readable medium and to be stored on alocal recording medium, so that the methods described herein can berendered via such software that is stored on the recording medium usinga general purpose computer, or a special processor or in programmable ordedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would be understood inthe art, the computer, the processor, microprocessor controller or theprogrammable hardware include memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash,etc. that may store or receive software or computer code that whenaccessed and executed by the computer, processor or hardware implementthe processing methods described herein.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a display; atouch sensor disposed in at least a partial area of the display; afingerprint sensor disposed in at least part of the partial area of thedisplay and including a sensing area for sensing biometric informationand a wiring area in which a plurality of wirings connected to thesensing area are disposed; and a processor, wherein the processor isconfigured to: using the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor, sensean input at least partially overlapping a partial area of the wiringarea; in response to sensing the input, obtain first locationinformation about the input using the touch sensor and obtain secondlocation information about the input using the fingerprint sensor; anddetermine location information of the input corresponding to the partialarea of the wiring area, based at least on the first locationinformation and the second location information, wherein the processoris further configured to: estimate a virtual area based on coordinatesobtained by the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor on an area wherethe input by an external object is sensed; and calculate coordinates ofthe input as a center point of the virtual area.
 2. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: determine thelocation information of the input based on coordinates on a boundary ofthe touch sensor where the input is sensed and coordinates on a boundaryof the sensing area where the input is sensed.
 3. The electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: determine thelocation information of the input based on coordinates on an edge of anarea where the input is sensed.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to: determine the locationinformation of the input by applying linear interpolation to the firstlocation information and the second location information.
 5. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:determine the location information of the input by applying weightedinterpolation to the first location information and the second locationinformation.
 6. An electronic device comprising: a cover glass; a touchsensor disposed under the cover glass and configured to sense proximityof or contact by an external object; a touch integrated circuit (IC)electrically connected to the touch sensor; a fingerprint sensordisposed under the cover glass adjacent to the touch sensor, includingan active area for sensing a biometric pattern of the external objectand an inactive area surrounding a periphery of the active area; afingerprint IC electrically connected to the fingerprint sensor; and aprocessor electrically connected to the touch IC and the fingerprint IC,wherein the processor is configured to: if an input by the externalobject is sensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor,calculate coordinates of the input based on at least part of data sensedby the touch sensor and data sensed by the fingerprint sensor; estimatea virtual area based on coordinates obtained by the touch sensor and thefingerprint sensor on an area where the input by the external object issensed; and calculate coordinates of the input as a center point of thevirtual area.
 7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein thefingerprint sensor is a capacitive fingerprint sensor.
 8. The electronicdevice of claim 6, wherein the fingerprint sensor includes lineselectrically connected to the active area and arranged inside theinactive area, and a shield member disposed inside the inactive area toshield an electromagnetic wave emitted from the lines.
 9. The electronicdevice of claim 6, wherein the fingerprint sensor is interposed betweenthe cover glass and the touch sensor.
 10. The electronic device of claim6, wherein the fingerprint sensor overlaps the touch sensor in a topview of the cover glass, and the fingerprint sensor interferes withdetection of the external object by the touch sensor in an area wherethe fingerprint sensor overlaps the touch sensor.
 11. The electronicdevice of claim 6, wherein the fingerprint sensor and the touch sensorare disposed on a same plane.
 12. The electronic device of claim 6,wherein the inactive area of the fingerprint sensor is laterallyadjacent to the touch sensor.
 13. The electronic device of claim 6,wherein the processor is configured to: if a first voltage sensed in afirst area of the touch sensor adjacent to the fingerprint sensor isoutside a first range and a second voltage sensed in a second area ofthe fingerprint sensor adjacent to the touch sensor is within a secondrange, use the fingerprint sensor to sense the biometric pattern of theexternal object; if the first voltage is within the first range and thesecond voltage is outside the second range, calculate the coordinates ofthe input based on the data sensed by the touch sensor; and if the firstvoltage is within the first range and the second voltage is within thesecond range, calculate the coordinates of the input based on the datasensed by the touch sensor and the data sensed by the fingerprintsensor.
 14. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor isconfigured to: calculate the coordinates of the input based oncoordinates on a boundary of the touch sensor where when the input issensed.
 15. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor isconfigured to: calculate the coordinates of the input based on firstcoordinates on a boundary of the touch sensor where the input is sensedand second coordinates on a boundary of the fingerprint sensor where theinput is sensed.
 16. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein theprocessor is configured to: calculate the coordinates of the input basedon coordinates on an edge of an area where the input is sensed.
 17. Theelectronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to: ifa fingerprint is recognized by the fingerprint sensor, store an imagecorresponding to the fingerprint; if the input by the external object issensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor, estimate anarea in which the external object is to be recognized by the touchsensor and the fingerprint sensor, based on the image corresponding tothe fingerprint and an image corresponding to the external object; andcalculate the coordinates of the input based on the area in which theexternal object is to be recognized.
 18. The electronic device of claim6, wherein the touch IC transmits first coordinates where the input issensed by the touch sensor to the processor, wherein the fingerprint ICtransmits second coordinates where the input is sensed by thefingerprint sensor to the processor, and wherein the processor isconfigured to: calculate the coordinates of the input based on the firstcoordinates and the second coordinates.
 19. The electronic device ofclaim 6, wherein the touch IC is electrically connected to thefingerprint IC, wherein the touch IC or the fingerprint IC transmit, tothe processor, at least a part of first coordinates where the input issensed by the touch sensor and second coordinates where the input issensed by the fingerprint sensor, and wherein the processor isconfigured to: calculate the coordinates of the input based on the atleast part of the first coordinates and the second coordinates.
 20. Atouch coordinate sensing method of an electronic device, the methodcomprising: activating a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor includedin the electronic device; sensing an input by an external object, usingthe touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor; if the input by theexternal object is sensed by both the touch sensor and the fingerprintsensor, calculating coordinates of the input based on at least part ofdata sensed by the touch sensor and data sensed by the fingerprintsensor; estimating a virtual area based on coordinates obtained by thetouch sensor and the fingerprint sensor on an area where the input by anexternal object is sensed; and calculating coordinates of the input as acenter point of the virtual area.